World Bank forecasts 1% GDP growth for Iran in 2014

Iran's gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by 1 percent in 2014, according to the World Bank's newly-released Global Economic Prospects. The report has predicted 1.8 percent and 2 percent GDP growth for Iran in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Iran's GDP growth was -1.3 percent in 2013, the report said.

In September 2013, the Central Bank of Iran announced that the national economy contracted by 5.4 percent in the past Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2013.

Iranian Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Ali Tayyebnia has said that low economic growth rate is currently the main challenge in the national economy.

The ministry will focus on improving the living standards through curbing inflation and flourishing businesses, he stated.

The World Bank report further said the global economy is at a "turning point". It forecasts stronger growth for 2014.

The bank said global GDP will grow by 3.2% this year, up from 2.4% in 2013, with much of the pick-up coming from developed economies.

Developing nations will grow by 5.3% this year, up from 4.8% in 2013.

Looking at regional trends, the bank said growth will be flat in East Asia and the Pacific, modest in Latin America and the Caribbean and held back in the Middle East and North Africa.